Published: August 18, 2008 09:18 am            

Baseball trip slogan: Not milk?

The annual baseball weekend with my Wisconsin friends has come and gone. Here’s the family-friendly version of what we did:

We attended baseball games in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids.

Wow. That’d be a pretty short column. It’s difficult to go into great detail about the potential YouTube moment and a near throw down with a roving bachelorette party on these pages. Let’s just says that although my travel companions hailed from the Dairy State, the beverage of choice was not milk.

Here’s some quick hits on these Western Michigan cities.

Kalamazoo (pop. 77,145 — driving time from Lebanon approximately 4 hours): The home of Western Michigan University seems to have two sides: A patchwork of neighborhoods bordering one another ranging from upscale to gritty and a surprisingly thriving and vibrant downtown that had something approaching a skyline.

The Kalamazoo Kings, a member of the independent Frontier League, play in what is a souped-up municipal park field (think Lebanon Memorial Park’s baseball field with bleachers, a grandstand and a concourse.

Our time in Kalamazoo was limited: Got in town about 4 p.m. on a Friday and checked out of the hotel around 11 a.m. Saturday.

Grand Rapids (pop. 197,800 — driving time from Lebanon approximately 4.5 hours): My Wisconsin friends and I agreed that Grand Rapids is the Michigan version of Madison — only cleaner (not that the Wisconsin capital is dirty).

The Grand River flows through the downtown, neatly splitting the cultural museum spots (including one saluting favorite son Gerald Ford) on the west bank and the business and nightlife district on the east bank.

The city’s devotion to the arts and environment (a pedestrian bridge spans the river at one point and the shallow stream appears free of debris and clutter). And although it’s a city of nearly 200,000 people, the downtown felt as safe as walking in Lebanon (minus the shirtless men).

Fifth Third Ballpark is home to the West Michigan Whitecaps, the Detroit Tigers’ single A affiliate. The team not only wins often (Midwest League winners three of the past four years) but is one of the top drawing minor league teams. It’s easy to see why: The ballpark is pristine with ample aisles and concession areas. We walked the whole park and couldn’t find a bad seat. It would give Victory Field a run for its money.

Grand Rapids (or Gd Rapids as indicated on the Michigan mileage highway signs) benefits from having in its suburbs the headquarters of department store giant Meijer and multi-level marketing company Amway.

Except for the 38 cases of Nutrilite I’m now trying to unload on 10 of my friends, it was a good trip.

— George Piper is a Lebanon resident and former managing editor at The Lebanon Reporter.

        

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